February 19, 1968 -
IGRA# 1812
First attended a gay rodeo in 1993-94
Involved in gay rodeo through 2015
Inducted 2022
Trenda Monnahan was born on February 19, 1968 and grew up in Eastern Colorado. The small town where she grew up, Deer Trail, is known in history for holding the "World's First Rodeo." Trenda's folks raised cattle, and at the age of five or six, she started moving cows while riding a pony named Cocoa. This little pony would jump cactus patches, so that is how Trenda and her two sisters learned to ride.
Her father wouldn't haul cattle and their calves to different pastures, so during her childhood, there were always lots of hours and miles sitting in a saddle. Trenda spent countless hours driving a tractor and farming, and was also a 4-H member, during which time she won the honor of raising the Grand Champion Steer two different years at the Elbert County Fair in Kiowa, Colorado. Trenda also enjoyed competing in gymkhanas.
Always athletic, basketball was Trenda's primary sport. In 1986, she was the Division A-II "Basketball Player of the Year." She received "Full Ride" Scholarships first to Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado, and then to the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmund, Oklahoma. Trenda earned her Bachelor's Degree in Health and Physical Education, and the proceeded to teach physical education for 27 years in Northern Oklahoma.
In 1990, Trenda became a member of the Women's Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA). While riding bulls during her second year of WPRA competition, Trenda's head was stepped on, breaking her jaw. Sadly, this proved to be a WPRA career ending injury.
Trenda joined the Oklahoma Gay Rodeo Association (OGRA) in the mid-1990's and was an active IGRA contestant until 2015.
In 2015, she had reconstructive ankle surgery which ended up crippling her, putting an end to her lengthy rodeo career. Trenda thanks all her rodeo partners for contributing to her IGRA successes, which were numerous. In addition to countless event buckles, Trenda was the IGRA's World Gay Rodeo Finals (WGRF) All-Around Cowgirl seven times between 2004 and 2016. At the 2011 WGRF in Fort Worth, Texas, Trenda broke the IGRA record time for women's barrel racing on a full-size regulation pattern with an astonishing time of 14.87 seconds. A record that still stands as of 2022. Trenda resides in Jones, Oklahoma.